Mary Magdalene, Carlo Crivelli
Tempera on panel, 60 x 19 inches (152 x 49 cm), in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
This beautifully realized late Gothic work (painted in 1480) is as much decorative object as it is representational image.
I love how stylized it is, from the intricately rendered strands of hair to the expressive, heavy-lidded eyes, to the hands for which gesture and expression outweigh any concern for realistic proportions.
I just want to thank you for your blog. I am a regular reader and appreciate the time and energy you put into it. I always learn something new and come away refreshed and energized.
Thanks, Caryl!
Just love that minuteness of fine detail
And the hand reveals a certain daintiness of the sitter!
Kay Lipton Artist
Thanks, Kay. Yes, given the degree of stylization, it’s interesting to muse on the actual appearance of the sitter.
Eewww! In the Dutch and Italian wikipedia it appears (the only reference to him) that Crivelli was a criminal. He abducted and raped the wife of Francesco Cortese. After his conviction he never returned to Venice.
But he is an artist in his time.
Yow.Thanks,ælle. I Didn’t know that. And I thought Caravaggio was bad!
Those rogue artists could not have continued painting still lifes of flowers as Caravaggio started with? They needed more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_s6gj2KB7s
